A/N: Many thanks to you, my awesome reviewers, story alerters, and favortiers. I also want to thank Glyndewar for beta-ing. More information at the bottom of the page.

Stolen Roses

Was there such thing as living in a state of complete contentment? I never thought it was possible, but considering the way my life had changed after finally being able to be with Reed, yes, it was. It was impossible for me not to skip everywhere I walked, not to mention smiling as if nothing could wipe it off.

So today, instead of picking Ivy up from Pemberly, I went to retrieve the girl I loved. It felt different; I didn't feel guilty and I certainly wanted to be there. Standing in front of Pemberly was torturous, waiting for Reed. At last, she came, gracing herself in my presence. My heart jumped over and over again.

Instantly, I stuck out my hand so I could hold Reed's, and wound my hand around Reed's soft fingers. By doing so, it showed I was never going to let us go. Nothing was going to rip our hands apart.

"So, we're doing this?" Reed asked tentatively.

"We're doing this," I replied back, strong conviction layering my words.

Being the adorable girl she was, she said, "All right then," and those words never left me so happy.

We began walking towards the dining hall. Her scent wafted up to my nose, her hair brushed my shoulder, and just standing next to Reed was making me go crazy. After three months of feeling angry, guilty, embarrassed, and love sick, I was finally able to feel . . . normal. Back to how we were supposed to be, without any interruptions.

Well, aside from Sawyer and Graham.

Once they saw us, Sawyer immediately stormed off the other direction, no doubt pissed that Reed wasn't holding hands with him. Graham, who I thought didn't hate me as much anymore, went after Sawyer, looking beyond furious. I guess he did, after all.

"Josh, can you please just tell me what happened between you and Graham Hathaway? Why does he get all clenched every time he sees you?"

Could I tell her what happened between Graham and I? Yes, I could. Would I? Should I? I had no idea how Reed was going to react to the news. She obviously knew the Hathaways, but was she going to appreciate what I was going to tell her? In the end, I had to tell her eventually. No more lies between us. No more secrets.

"Let's sit."

"OK."

Keeping my fingers intertwined with Reed's, we sat down on one of the many frosted benches around the quad. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. "The thing with Graham is . . . I used to go out with his twin sister, Jen."

Quickly, I replayed that sentence in my head. It didn't sound particularly horrible nor did it sound nice, but it was the truth. I heard Reed suck in a breath, and I cringed. She kept holding my hand, but her eyes darted around, and it was apparent that she had no idea that was coming.

"You know about Jen?" I continued, keeping a fixed eye on her. "You know how she…?"

Killed herself, probably because of me? But that still needs verification.

"Yeah," Reed said softly. "I didn't know she and Graham were twins but . . . Sawyer told me how she died." Her voice got distant and she looked as if she was contemplating something. I hoped she wasn't upset over the revelation.

"We were together a few months my sophomore year. But things didn't end well," I finished, giving a scoff and still toying with her fingers. Flashes of our crappy breakup swept through my mind. I debated whether or not I should tell her, but I resorted to telling her one thing at a time.

"Anyway, Graham blamed me and I think now that Jen's gone it's even harder for him," I said, remembering his break down a couple days ago. "I don't know if he's pissed at her or pissed at the world in general, but . . ."

"That sucks," Reed interrupted. "I mean, I guess I get it, but it still sucks. I really like Graham. When he's not, you know, beating up on my man."

I gave out a tiny laugh. "I do too," I said, but instantly thinking about our current situation, I decided to change the tenses. "Or I did. We used to be pretty good friends." If being pretty good friends meant not beating each other up, then we had an excellent friendship.

Reed sighed. "How long had it been since you talked to Jen? I mean, did you ever talk to her before–"

A jovial whistling not too far from us disrupted whatever Reed was asking. Headmaster Hathaway was walking towards us, his hands in his pockets. He gave a simple nod to Reed and a fake smile. No doubt was he a bit upset over the turn of events. Embarrassed that I made a man who I respected no longer respect me, I turned my head to the side.

But as I glanced down at our hands molded together, I realized it wasn't so bad. We could handle the Hathaways any day.

At school, I was hounded with questions, winks, and nasty looks from some girls. None of it mattered, of course. I simply could not wait to see Reed again.

It was late at night by the time I came over to Pemberly. Quickly, I went to Reed's room and found that she was not there. I went over to her bed and began reading for my literature class just to pass time, watching the clock endlessly.

After about forty-five minutes, I heard some talking outside. I figured out that it was Ivy and Reed talking. But hold on – wasn't Ivy upset at Reed? Regardless, I waited a minute or two, and hearing Ivy shut the door, Reed followed suit. Boy, was I glad to see her.

"Hey!" I exclaimed while setting the book aside. "Where were you? You cheating on me already?" I joked.

Goddamn it, how stupid could I get. Because right when I said that, Reed began to cry, and I wanted to smack myself. Of course she wasn't going to cheat on me (not now, anyway). We had already risked so much beforehand. But she continued to sob, and I felt horrible.

"Oh hey, bad joke," I said, trying to relieve the tension. Feeling guilty, I went over and wrapped Reed in a tight hug; her sobs shook her entire frame. "I guess we shouldn't joke about cheating considering how we broke up . . ."

"It's not that," she mumbled.

Thank you Jesus. A wave of relief washed over me and my hold on Reed loosened, but the tears kept on coming. Finally, I had to ask, "Then what is it?" Lifting my hand, I cupped her smooth face and tilted it up, her glistening tears shining. "Reed, what's wrong?"

A moment of silence passed, and for the first time tonight, I saw how worn out and fidgety Reed looked. Something wrong was going on.

Eventually, Reed said, "It's Noelle. She's–"

A beep followed, and within a second, Reed was on all fours, dumping the contents of two purses and frantically searching for the phone all over the floor. What was up with her? I saw her pick up a cell phone which seemed to be Noelle's, but that clearly wasn't the one. Over to the side, I saw Reed's, the screen lit up.

"Looking for this?" I crouched down and retrieved the phone; apparently, it was a text. "It fell out of your pocket. It's a text." My thumb accidentally swiped over the yes button, and Reed's text came into full view.

My insides froze. I quickly read the message, fully realizing this wasn't any normal text. It was all in menacing capital letters, and it said some shit about Noelle dying and Reed having to do something. For a second, I wanted to pretend that this was all a joke, but considering the way Reed was acting, this had to be true.

"Reed? What the hell is this?" I croaked out, handing the phone off to her.

I saw Reed's face slowly transform into horror. She dropped her phone, her eyes bulging out. She began shaking uncontrollably, and all of a sudden, Reed fell down. She was crying all over again, mumbling and saying it was all her fault. By instinct, I went over to Reed's side and wrapped her in my arms, trying to make sense of everything. Trying to believe that this wasn't real.

"Reed, is this . . . is this serious? Is this real?"

Reed's turquoise eyes peered up at me, and her tiny hands fisted around the collar of my jacket. "Yes, it is. Oh God . . . I'm so sorry, Josh . . . ."

Dear Future, I began silently. Why couldn't you give us a month without any trouble?

Never mind. Damn you, Future. Damn you.

A/N: Ya'll know the drill. Since this fic is solely based off the books, I obviously have to wait for the next one. So, until August I believe, this story will be standing COMPLETE. Now, that is only for my satisfaction, but when I recieve a copy of Vanished, this fic will an IN-PROGRESS one. Don't freak folks. I will be back.

See you guys next time! ~TR